Click here for Community Calendar.
Pop. 20,425Alt. 1,645

Kerrville Texas General-Seat of Kerr County, one of state's most popular health, vacation and recreation centers, with exceptional hospital, medical treatment and physician care facilities. The area is believed by many to have most ideal climate in the nation. More than two dozen boys' and girls' camps, scores of hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfast, RV parks, camps, dude ranches, resorts, retreats and religious encampments attract thousands annually. Antique stores, craft shops, jewelry makers, gift boutiques, art galleries and festivals call Kerrville home. We are known for our many retirement communities around the Guadalupe river and abundant creeks. The golf courses, parks, live theatre, museums, plays, and music venue offer an abundance of activities for everyone. Famous ranches like the Y.O. and MO offer some of the best hunting, touring, exotic safari guided sightseeing, water activities, camping, and nature trails in the country.  The range of restaurants, cafes, diners and other eating establishments allows every taste to be fulfilled. Rugged cedar and live oak-covered hills, picturesque green valleys and beautiful streams edged by towering cypress. White-tailed deer  and other animals so numerous that motorists are cautioned to be on the alert for them, especially at night. The hunting, sightseeing, hiking, bicycling, motorcycle and driving routes offer plenty of outdoor activity for the old and young alike. Kerrville has it's fair Texas share of Bluebonnets and river flowers to add more color to our picture perfect foliage so that touring the Hill Country is incomplete without visiting Kerrville and the activities around the town. Capt. Charles A. Schreiner, born in Riguewihr, France, was an early, prominent Kerrville settler. He served with the Confederacy and as a Texas Ranger; established general merchandising business in Kerrville, 1869. The Charles Schreiner Co. owned more than 600,000 acres of land by 1900, extending some 80 miles northwest to Menard. Among Schrenier's philanthropies was established of Schrenier Institute (now Schrenier College). Industries include Mooney Aircraft, James Avery Silversmith. Major annual event is Texas State Arts & Crafts Fair, Memorial Day weekend, provides opportunity to see works of more than 200 of Texas' finest artists and craftsmen. Music festivals featuring folk and country/western stars held 18 days in May & June, and on Labor Day weekend at Quiet Valley Ranch south of Kerrville.

Museum of Western Art - Splendid showcase for contemporary cowboy artists including works by Joe Beeler, James Boren, Robert Duncan, Melvin Warren and others; permanent and rotating collections; special exhibitions; workshops by artists in residence; library, auditorium and museum store. The museum comprises the nation's most distinguished living artists who follow in the tradition of Remington and Russell in celebrating the memories of the Old West. The rotating collection is sure to delight & surprise. A major western art library is maintained and teaching facilities attract top artists. Open Tues.- Sat. 9 a.m., Sun. 1- 5 p.m. Also Mon. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. in June - Aug. 1550 Bandera Hwy. (Texas 173) south of town. Admission. 

Downtown Kerrville - Recent revitalization projects have restored downtown Kerrville to its original old-world charm. The design implements a plan which encourages leisurely strolls along shops of antiques, galleries and unique eateries. 

Hill Country Arts Foundation - Enjoy fine theatrical entertainment at the Smith-Ritch Point Theatre. The excellent productions and comfortable seating ensure a magical evening out. Classes in music, sculpture, dance, photography and art are taught in workshops. Call for class and fee schedules. Hwy 39W, in Ingram. 830.367.5121.

Hill Country Museum - Hill Country antiques, artifacts and memorabilia located in the restored Victorian mansion of Capt. Charles Schreiner, the museum features period antiques and portrays the affluent life of the early Hill Country days. Handsome Romanesque stone structure (1879) features French crystal chandeliers, decorative accents. Open Mon.- Sat. 10 a.m. - noon ; 2-4:30 p.m. 226 Earl Garrett St. 830.896.8633. Admission.

James Avery Craftsman - Visit the headquarters of this nationally acclaimed craftsman of gold and silver jewelry. The retail shop is open Mon-Sat, 9am-4pm. Located 3 1/2 miles north of IH-10 on Harper road. 830.895.1122.

Kerr Arts & Cultural Center - Located in downtown Kerrville, KACC represents more than 600 member's art, representing all media. Workshops, classes and lectures are featured, as well as items for sale. 228 Earl Garrett. 830.895.2911. Free.

Playhouse 2000  - Enjoy a magical night at the theatre. Quality theatrical productions ranging from Shakespeare to Arthur Miller, musicals to comedies. Call for current production. Kathleen C. Cailloux Performing Arts Center, 916 Main Street. 830.896.9393. Admission. 

Kerrville City Park- 500 beautiful Hill Country acres on upper reaches of cypress- edged Guadalupe River. Camping, shelters, RV hookups, rest rooms, picnicking, fishing, swimming, nature study, hiking. South edge of city off Texas 173. Admission.

Charley Eckhardt's Texas The Snively Expedition Jacob Snively was either a con-man, a fool, or probably the unluckiest man on earth. It's hard to tell which. He claimed to be a mining man who'd prospected the Sierra Madres. He also claimed he'd found one of the richest gold mines on the continent in the mountains below El Paso, on the Texas side of the Rio Grande... The Murder Maverick If you've ridden many miles on the sunset side of the Colorado and listened to people talk in bars and cafes, you've heard a good many tales. Once you get west of the Pecos, there's one in particular you'll hear. You'll hear the tale of a phantom steer called 'the Murder Maverick.'... Alley Oop is a Texan? Alley Oop, the cave-man character created by Victor T. Hamlin in 1932, is a native Texan. The area around present Iraan, Texas was a gold mine of dinosaur fossils. In the days before salvage archaeology, the fossils were simply hauled away by the truckload. This gave Hamlin the idea for a comic strip.

 

Kerrville Texas Convention and Visitors Bureau
Thorough effort has been made to provide accurate event information; however, always confirm dates and times with the Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau at 830-792-3535 or 1-800-221-7958.

"Third Generation in Business For Your Health"

Dream Home Finder Dream Ranch Finder Get a Website Hill Country Yellow Pages Hill Country White Pages Texas Hill Country Road Conditions Hill Country Photo Tour Make us your homepage! Hill Country Map Search Engine Optimization and SEO Tools

Kerrville, Texas Information

Being nestled in the hills of Texas Hill Country, Kerrville is best known for its beautiful parks that line the Guadalupe River - which runs directly through the city, its nearby youth summer camps, hunting ranches, and RV parks. It's also the home of Texas's Official State Arts & Crafts Fair, the Kerrville Folk Festival, H-E-B Grocery Stores, Mooney Airplane Company,[5] James Avery Jewelry, Kerrville Bus Company,[6] and Schreiner University. The Museum of Western Art (founded 1983) features the work of living artists specializing in the themes of the American West.

Archeological evidence suggests that humans dwelled in the area known as Kerrville as early as 10,000 years ago. The early modern residents were successful shinglemakers whose mercantile business became a hub that served the middle and upper Hill Country area in the late 1840s. One of the earliest shinglemakers was Joshua D. Brown. With his family, Joshua Brown had led several other families on an exploration of the Guadalupe Valley. These early pioneers organized their settlements near a bluff just north of the Guadalupe River in the eastern half today's county line. The settlement was referred to as "Brownsborough," but after the area was formally platted in 1856 by James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, the settlement was formally known as "Kerrville" and maintained a county seat with Texas.

Starting in 1857, a German master-miller named Christian Dietert and millwright Balthasar Lich started a large grist and saw mill on the bluff. This mill established a permanent source of power and protection from floods, and became the most extensive operation of its kind in the Hill Country area west of New Braunfels and San Antonio. Soon afterwards, Charles A. Schreiner rode Kerrville's newly-found popularity, by serving Kerrville's mercantile needs. Schreiner established a family-ran empire that helped build Kerrville's early prosperity by owning almost all of Kerrville's business sectors, including freighting enterprises, retail, wholesale, banking, ranching, marketing, and brokering operations. Schreiner's elegant downtown home, a Romaneque stone structure at 226 Earl Garrett Street, is the site of the Hill Country Museum in downtown Kerrville.

The Civil War slowed Kerrville's development, but with the start of The Reconstruction Era, Kerrville's economic boom and ethnic diversification continued anew as demand grew in San Antonio for lumber, produce, and craftsmen. Kerrville's boom was also catalyzed by the combination the cessation of Indian raids and the expansion into the business of cattle, sheep, and goat ranching. Cattle drives punctuated the boom-years of the late 1880s and the 1890s. In 1887, the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway reached Kerrville, and in 1889 the town incorporated, with an "Aldermanic" form of city government.

The Kerrville Water Works Company began to provide water for town dwellers in 1894. Telephone service was introduced in 1896, and the city began to pave streets in 1912. Kerrville adopted a "commission" form of city government in 1917, then changed to the "city-manager" form in 1928. In 1942 the town adopted a home-rule charter, while continuing with a city manager. Kerrville has displayed steady population growth throughout the twentieth century, increasing from 1,423 residents in 1900 to 2,353 in 1920, 5,572 in 1940, 8,901 in 1960, and 15,276 in 1980. Its economic base has diversified and broadened through business, agriculture, light manufacturing, health care, transportation, services, education, the arts, and tourism. By the mid-1990s the Wall Street Journal described Kerrville as one of the wealthiest small towns in America. By 1995 the city's official population was still under 18,000, with another 20,000 people in relatively affluent residential areas south of the river and in the rest of the county. In 2000 the population reached 20,425. Much of the growth in population included retirees and young professionals and semiprofessionals; for many years Kerrville also experienced significant outmigration of young adults raised in the area.